Long-time truckie Dean Skuse dreads the weekly runs he makes along the treacherous southern tip of the Mount Lindesay Highway near the Queensland/NSW border.
The narrow, windy pass was hammered by rainfall in early 2022 and with increased heavy vehicle traffic in the area, particularly from the logging sector, Skuse fears that’s it’s only a matter of time before there’s a serious accident on one of the 30 or so hairpin bends.
“There’s some terrible bloody turns in there,” said Skuse who drives a DAF rigid from Brisbane to Kyogle carrying heavy pipe.
“It scares the shit outta me whenever I run through lately.
“I’ve had way too many close calls. You just come up to a corner and all of a sudden there’s someone who has cut the corner, could be a B-double, could be anything coming down that hill – way too close.
“There are a lot of newcomers using this road now and they don’t know to call up.”
All he wants is for simple UHF call-up signs to be installed on both sides of the border to remind the newcomers to warn other truckies of their presence.
The need is already so great for warnings, that Skuse said other drivers have taken it upon themselves to draw their own-call-up reminders [on channel 29] on existing signage along the stretch.
“All the ones who travel that road know the points to call-up, but it needs better sign posting to remind others,” he said.
The Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) told Big Rigs that Call UHF signage is not in the proposed signage scheme for this section of the Mount Lindesay Highway upgrade project.
Work, however, is underway on the highway between Beaudesert and the Queensland/New South Wales border to repair damage that occurred as a result of rainfall events between February and May 2022.
Restoration works, jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland governments, includes earthworks, slope stabilisation, drainage, and revegetation.
“The traffic guidance scheme for these works has considered all vehicle types permitted to use this section of the highway, as well as road conditions and visibility, a TMR spokesperson said.
“A site-specific UHF channel is used by construction vehicles entering and exiting work sites and by traffic controllers to manage traffic. All road users, including heavy vehicle operators are required to follow the directions of traffic controllers and signage.
The spokesperson said heavy vehicle operators should continue to use UHF Channel 40 to communicate with other drivers.
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